Posted on 04/08/2016 11:04:48 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Cruz's odds of winning the nomination are steadily increasing, and we should bey very, very afraid
On the occasion of longshot presidential candidate Ted Cruzs campaign launch back in March, The Onion published a satirical piece about subscribers to TIME magazine bracing themselves for the awful, inevitable day when they would open their mailboxes to find themselves staring at a picture of Cruz on the cover under a headline like The Game Changer or The Firebrand. It was an absurd joke that went so meta that this week when TIME actually put Cruz on the cover, they also ran a story about The Onions piece from a year ago. Our politics have become very, very surreal.
TIMEs cover story is headlined, Likable Enough?, accompanied by a fetching portrait of Cruz with a mischievous look on his face and a lovely ice blue tie. He looks exceedingly likable and once you read the stories within, youll have to conclude that the man whom virtually everyone with the misfortune of knowing him finds repulsive is terribly misunderstood. Where you might have thought the man was a doctrinaire rightwinger, steeped in religious fanaticism and radical free market extremism, you will find out that hes actually a good old boy, a salt of the earth populist. (One hopes for his sake that nobody leaves a copy lying around on the yachts of some of the billionaires whove been writing ten million dollar checks on his behalf. It could get awkward.)
In an interview entitled Ted Cruz Embraces Economic Populism, a very slick Cruz says:
[B]oth parties, career politicians in both parties get in bed with the lobbyist and special interest. And the fix is in. Where Washingtons policies benefit big business, benefit the rich and the powerful at the expense of the working men and women.
Now the point that I often make, and just a couple of days ago in Wisconsin I was visiting with a young woman who said she was a Bernie Sanders supporter. And I mentioned to her that I agreed with Bernie on the problem.
But I said if you think the problem is Washington is corrupt, why would you want Washington to have more power? I think the answer to that problem is for Washington to have less power, for government to have less power over our lives.
This has always been the American rights clever little take on populism. Sure, sure, folks, those rich guys and big business are bad, very bad. But its all because theyre bribing politicians to give them what they want. The best thing to do is slash taxes, reverse all regulations and get rid of consumer protections so they wont need to bribe politicians because theyll have everything they want! Then the power of the markets will be unleashed and you can be rich too!
Throughout the interview, this wily Ivy League educated lawyer presents himself as the champion of the working class, the guy whose only concerns lie with the single mom who works as a waitress and the dad who lost his job down to the plant and cant get ahead. But in reality his record on economics is one that only a Koch Brother could love. And even they cant stand him.
Still hes presented as some sort of iconoclast who defies the usual right-wing classification because he opposes the Import-Export Bank and ethanol subsidies, both of which are obscure little libertarian totems that will have exactly zero effect on the lives of those waitress moms and unemployed dads for whom he purports to care so much. Most of his economic agenda will actually devastate them and everyone they know.
For instance, hes one of the few Republicans to actually believe that the U.S. should return to the gold standard. This is a fringe position held by acolytes of Rand Paul and Glenn Beck, which the Washington Post WonkBlog noted is held by virtually no experts anywhere. The Post quotes University of Chicago professor Anil Kashyap saying that love of the gold standard implies macroeconomic illiteracy. (And needless to say, calling a goldbug a populist is to take a hallucinogenic trip down the yellow brick road, if you know what I mean.)
Cruz is not just a run-of-the-mill deficit hawk he is for a balanced budget amendment combined with monumental tax cuts (and the total abolition of the IRS) which would require disastrous cuts to thousands of vital programs. Everyone knows he favors repealing the Affordable Care Act; he led the quixotic rightwing hostage taking effort to shut down the government and default on the debt in order to make that happen. It doesnt take much to imagine the chaos and pain that would ensue as tens of millions of waitress moms and unemployed dads lose their insurance.
He plans to completely deregulate Wall Street and has been endorsed by the Club for Growth, which describes its mission as cutting taxes, controlling federal spending, personal accounts for Social Security, ending the death tax, eliminating the capital gains tax, fundamental tax reform, providing true school choice and minimizing governments role in our daily lives. Every one of those goals are designed to benefit the wealthy at the expense of the average citizen.
Those are just some of his economic policies, all of which are as conservative as it gets. For all we know, he may even believe his own hype conservatives have been selling trickle down as a great boon to the middle and working class for decades. Its possible that he just hasnt noticed that all of this hocus pocus has been tried and has failed miserably to benefit anyone but the 1 percent. But Cruz is a very cunning politician and the smooth way he uses populist-style rhetoric to sell a plutocratic agenda makes it likely he knows exactly what hes doing.
Ted Cruz saying hes fighting the elites on behalf of the working man sounds very nice. But lets just say that the big money boys wont be disappointed if his agenda is enacted. Indeed, theyll be ecstatic. And surely the media must know this. Calling him a populist because he trash talks Washington just like Bernie Sanders shows just how eagerly the press allows themselves to be gulled into a sexy story line. And this one looks distressingly like something we might see cooked up in Grover Norquists basement: The everyman populist Cruz, slayer of RINOs, vs. the ancient establishment drudge Hillary Clinton, defender of the corrupt Washington cartel. And thats ridiculous. Ted Cruz is so deeply wedded to laissez faire, free market ideology that he makes any Democrat, whether Clinton, Sanders or even Joe Lieberman look like William Jennings Bryan by comparison.
All presidential finalists get an opportunity to be looked at with fresh eyes by the press when it starts to look as if they have a serious chance. But it behooves the media not to get carried away into total fantasy in order to set up a preferred story line. Ted Cruz is a very smart guy and has been underrated throughout this campaign. But ultra conservative Republicans arent voting for him because of his winning personality or populist economics. Theyre voting for him because he a far right fanatic just like they are. Just because he isnt Donald Trump it doesnt mean he isnt also a demagogue. Hes just a different kind.
Libtards are afraid. Finally, there is a conservative at the helm.
My, my. Quite a rant. They deserve a Trump.
We can know a man by his enemies. This piece is like a Ted Cruz ad!
far right fanatic. what’s he proposing that is fanatical?
tax cuts. a balanced budget.
problem is no one understand nor cares anymore about the constitution and the forefathers’ desire to keep the fed govt small,.
Someone the other day reminded me of the article of confederation that enhanced fed powers.
but it has gotten WAY out of hand
Wait. Trumpkins think Cruz is the candidate of the GOP-e, or they parrot Trump’s rhetoric that Cruz is a “Trojan Horse.” He can’t be both. But then again Trumpian logic is in a class by itself.
Don’t we spell it Cruz’ when the last possesive letter sound is the same?
The media made this evil monster who lies, cheats, steals. Deal with it media. It’s your fault Cruz has this false sense of securing the nomination. Cruz will be officially a loser April 19th when he officially can’t get 1273 from the voters. Trump will easily get to 1273. America will stop dying when president trump is sworn in January 2017.
I’m Willing to forgive this woman for much because she has a cool middle name.
Lets start with TED CRUZ WAS BORN IN CANADA.
Even Obama went to the effort to prove he was born here.
I can’t believe you guys.
>We can know a man by his enemies. This piece is like a Ted Cruz ad!
It is a Cruz ad. The media got smart a few week ago on the best way to help Cruz and helping they are. Don’t worry, if Cruz where to get the nom the media wouldn’t be quite so nice.
“Dont we spell it Cruz when the last possesive letter sound is the same?”
I think so.
That’s how I spell it. Cruz’ victory will be yuge.
GO GLOBALISTS!
Every the left hates about Cruz is what I love about him.
Vital programs were my hint....moron Lib showing her fear of fiscal sanity.
Cruz ends in a Z, so you add the 's !
Given the title of the article, I figured this was yet another post from Conservative Treehouse or Gateway Pundit.
Same office.
That ain’t the photo she uses in her columns, to say the least.
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